I've moved to Wordpress!!

Dearest anyone who reads my blog.

I decided to move over to Wordpress.

Please visit Wait... What? over there.

I am much happier with the layout and readibility.  Let me know (over at my new set-up) what you think!

And if you happen to link to my blog from yours, I'd be forever grateful (and will buy you a beer or a cup of tea if I ever meet you!) if you'd be so kind as to redirect your link(s) to:

http://lindaraftree.wordpress.com or to the appropriate exact pages you are referring to....

thanks a million.

Linda

Fostering a New Political Consciousness on Violence against Children

Next Sunday, I’m heading to Benin for a couple weeks to work on a project aimed at ending violence against children.  I’ll be training colleagues from Benin and Togo on setting up an SMS based system of collecting incident reports on violence against children and mapping the incidents out...  

Please continue reading this post at my new website!  

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Related Posts:

Breaking it Down: Violence against Children

Being a Girl in Cumbana

Revisiting the topic of Girls and ICTs: Tech Salon Discussions

I recently had the honor of leading a group of tech, development and gender folks in a discussion around Girls and ICTs at the Technology Salon.  The conversation revolved around 5 aspects I wrote about in an earlier blog post On Girls and ICTs:

• Tension between participation and protection
• Online behavior is an extension of, and a potential amplifier of offline behavior
• Qualifying the digital divide
• Girls' involvement in developing and designing ICT solutions for their own needs
• Research on Girls and ICTs

Check out the Technology Salon's page for a round-up of our discussions!


Photo:  Informal evening one-on-one ICT time at a Youth Empowerment through Arts and Media (YETAM) project workshop in Cameroon. 


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Related posts on Wait... What? (I've moved to Wordpress - pls visit over there!)
On Girls and ICTs
Putting Cumbana on the Map:  with Ethics
Being a Girl in Cumbana

Child Protection: from Emergency Response to a Sustainable Mechanism

There is a lot of talk about “Child Protection” these days and an increased awareness of the vulnerability of children who are separated from their parents or who have lost them due to the Haiti earthquake   But what exactly does “Child Protection” mean?  What does a child protection system look like on the ground?  How can child protection mechanisms be set up during an emergency phase, and how can they be turned into a sustainable mechanism post-crisis? .... Continue reading this post....

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Related posts on Wait... What?:

Children in Emergencies - Applying what we already know to the crisis in Haiti

Ushahadi in Haiti:  What's Needed Now

Breaking it Down:  Violence Against Children

On Girls and ICTs

At the Technology Salon hosted by the UN Foundation's Technology Partnership with Vodafone Foundation on Jan 28, 2010, some folks from the DC area (and beyond) will gather to share experiences around girls and ICTs.  This conversation is an important one, given that gaps exist around discussion, practice and research.   Continue reading.....

Related posts:
An Example of Youth Led Community Change in Mali
Being a Girl in Cumbana
Putting Cumbana on the Map - with Ethics
Breaking it Down: Violence Against Children
Stories that Touch the Heart

Children in Emergencies: Applying What We Already Know to the Crisis in Haiti

In early 2005, following the Tsunami, I collaborated with a cross-section of people at the organization where I work to put together a summary of lessons learned and some short guidelines for working with children and communities in emergencies. Continue reading at Wait... What's new website....

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Related post on Wait.... What?
Child Protection:  from Emergency Response to a Sustainable Mechanism

Ushahidi in Haiti: What's Needed Now

www.haiti.ushahidi.com

My main experience with disasters comes from working at an international development organization in El Salvador and happening to be the only senior manager who wasn't on annual vacation when a huge earthquake struck almost exactly 9 years ago, on January 13, 2001.  The rush to act was immediate, and it was a lot of learning by doing.  I got handed the responsibility by fate I suppose and didn't do such a bad job of it, if I do say so.  At that time we were pretty unprepared; something that has certainly changed since then in the organization where I work.  We now have country level disaster plans at hand and support a lot of disaster risk reduction and preparedness work with local communities and governments.  Continue reading here at Wait... What's new home!

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Related posts on Wait... What?:
I saw the future of geovisualization... before lunch

I saw the future of geovisualization... after lunch

Is this map better than that map?

An Example of Youth-Led Community Change in Mali

For the past couple years, I’ve been supporting the Youth Empowerment through Arts and Media (YETAM)  project in 6 African countries. One of the best things about being involved in the project is the opportunity to work with some incredible people who are developing the program strategies and implementing YETAM on the ground.  Bedo, the child media program coordinator in Plan Mali, is one of those people I've been lucky enough to work with.  He's kind, gentle, thoughtful and soft spoken yet solid in his opinions and knowledge. His face totally lights up when he's working with the youth. He has clear vision and gets things done, writes excellent reports, and isn't afraid to clarify things if he's not sure he's understood correctly.  It's been a real pleasure working with him. On Friday, Bedo told me about some of the short-term positive results that the Mali team is seeing in the YETAM program there.... continue reading at Wait... What's new website!


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Fostering a new political consciousness on violence against children

Thoughts on Avatar

Last week I read a post called “When Will White People Stop Making Movies like Avatar”. So I went into the movie this past Friday with some preconceptions.  Yesterday I read another post on this topic by David Brooks in the New York Times.  Continue reading ....